Unreal
by M.C. Castle
Summary: Sequel to Sister, Where Art Thou? The newlyformed Titans South situate themselves in Marble City. Meanwhile, Red X and Slade strike a deal. Better than it sounds. BBTer, ArgentOC, RedXOC, maybe some RobStar. Humor and some angst.
1. Rendezvous

Here it is: the hopefully-anticipated sequel to Sister, Where Art Thou? If you haven't read that yet, you should probably go and do so now before reading this one.

So here's the story behind the story: I was planning to just drop the whole Terrane idea after my last fic about him. But then I thought about what kind of possibilities he could have…as a Titan! So now I've planned a whole Elseworld series about him. (For those who don't know, Elseworld means something like 'a crazy story concept that couldn't have possibly happened but sounds good anyway.' At least, that's _my_ definition of it.)

Anyway, sit back, grab a snack if you feel like it, and enjoy my newest addition to the up-and-coming Elseworld saga I like to call **The Xenothium Compact**.

I don't own any characters except the ones I make up. I guess you could also say that I own this Elseworld concept, but the story that it is based off of is not mine.

**Unreal: Part One**

Argent looked out the window of the new tower. She sighed. _My very own team,_ she thought. _About time._

Bushido walked through the door, his sword slung over his shoulder with three paint cans hanging from it. "You done admiring the view?" he asked, breaking Argent from her reverie.

"Oh, of course," replied Argent. The newly formed Titans South had begun construction of a base in Marble City, southeast of Jump City. They only needed a few more touches to make it perfect. Argent flew over to meet Bushido. "What do you need help with?"

Bushido pointed over to the door. "First off, you should probably stop Jericho from knocking down the foundations with sonic waves."

Argent stared at him. "You're joking, right?"

Bushido shook his head. "I never joke."

Argent hurriedly flew outside to see Jericho cranking up his newly acquired sonic boom-inducing guitar. This was formerly property of Punk Rocket, a villain obsessed with spreading the 'sound of chaos.'

Argent stopped Jericho before he played a chord. "What do you think you're doing?!" she shouted at the mute boy.

Jericho just smiled and said many things in sign language. Argent narrowed her eyes as she tried to comprehend them, but simply gave up. She was the team's leader, and yet the only one who didn't understand Jericho when he spoke in sign language.

"Stop, stop," she said, waving her hands. "Just write it down." She created paper from red plasma energy and handed Jericho a piece of graphite that was lying on the ground.

Jericho wrote out what he had been saying very quickly and handed the red paper back to Argent. It read, "We still don't have enough space to finish the building, so I thought I'd level a few of these hills to make room."

Argent put her face in her palm. "Jericho, I already knew there wasn't enough room. And I believe I already told you to wait for him to come and take care of it." She looked out to the setting sun, thinking, _Where is he? He should have been here twenty minutes ago._

Jericho tapped Argent on the shoulder. He showed her the paper again, which had new words written on it. "So what should I do now?"

Argent waved him away. "Go help Bushido paint. Maybe you can help with the landscaping later."

Jericho nodded, walking off. Argent looked out at the sunset again. _He said he'd come…was he lying? _She thought about it for a second, then thought, _Nah. He wouldn't do that. _With one last look at the sunset, Argent walked back inside. Maybe Red Star needed some help moving things around.

**Meanwhile, in Jump City…**

Red X looked down upon the Jump City Museum from a rooftop. There was a new exhibit there today. They were displaying a rare stone: the Mirror Jewel. Red X didn't want to be late to the exhibit. He wanted as much time as possible to 'appreciate it.' In other words, he wanted to steal the jewel.

Red X waited intently while watching the guards. _One minute left,_ he thought. Surely enough, about a minute later, the guard headed inside. It was time for shift change. Red X smirked under his mask. _Showtime._

Red X jumped off the roof of the building he was standing on, landing on his feet in front of the door. He leaned against the wall of the museum immediately, looking around the corner. When he saw that the coast was clear, he crept inside. He had about thirty seconds to get past the lobby before one of the guards saw him.

Red X picked up his pace a bit, moving on soundless feet. He eyed a camera overhead, but he wasn't worried. He had made some modifications on his suit which protected him from the camera's sensors. He continued his trek out of the lobby.

Suddenly, Red X heard footsteps. He didn't bother looking back; he knew whom they were from. He looked at where he was for a split second. Five yards from the entrance to the first exhibit. Could he make it? He'd have to try.

Red X dove forward, rolling as he hit the floor. He ducked behind a potted plant just as he heard footsteps coming toward him. "Who's there?" a security guard shouted.

"What's going on?" asked the guard who had just changed shifts.

The other guard took out his flashlight and closed in on Red X's position. He looked around for a minute, shining the flashlight in Red X's direction. _Shoot…I screwed up,_ thought Red X. He prepared himself to fight them.

Then, the guard flipped away his flashlight. "Nothing," he said. "Probably just seeing things."

_Whew,_ thought Red X. _That was close._ When the guards' footsteps dispersed, Red X got up and began to creep toward the exhibit of his interest once again.

After a minute of searching, Red X saw the article of his desire: the Mirror Jewel. It was quite a beautiful gemstone. It was clear, much like quartz. It had deep lines coursing all over it, making it look like a cracked mirror, hence the name.

Red X licked his lips as he eyed this precious jewel. He was very, _very_ partial to shiny things. And he tended to steal things he liked. He began to walk toward the display case, but halted. _Right,_ he thought. _Gotta check it for traps._ He took out one of his infamous X-shaped devices and held it out to the case. It scanned the case, and then opened up into three screens.

Red X looked the screens over. _Only a laser field?_ he thought, suspicion in his mind. _They must not care about this thing very much._ He punched in a few keys on his X-shaped scanner. _They're pretty tight…but I think I can do it._ He pulled his gloves tighter over his hands as a surgeon would do before a tricky operation and pulled out another X. He threw this one into the air. It split up into several small pieces. Punching a few more keys on his other device, Red X sent these pieces in at the display case. The pieces shot down at the case, heading in a straight line through the lasers and latching onto it.

Red X smiled. _Too easy,_ he thought, punching in the final commands on his device. The display case opened, automatically deactivating the lasers. Red X was thoroughly confused by this. _That doesn't usually happen._ He shrugged this thought off, reaching in for the precious gem.

Red X never even touched the gem, however. It disappeared in a flash of 0s and 1s, almost like it was data inside a computer. "What the hell?" Red X said aloud.

"I didn't think you'd make it past the guards," said a voice from the darkness. It sounded female. "Impressive, really."

Red X looked over to the source of the voice. "What's going on here?" he asked, to no one in particular.

The source of the voice stepped out from the darkness. It was, indeed, a girl. This girl was dressed in khaki shorts and a black turtleneck sweater. There were green goggles around her neck, and several gadgets and gizmos hung from the green belt of her shorts. Her eyes were dark green, and her hair was black as coal. She wore dark green lipstick to top of the whole 'green and black' look. She ignored Red X's question, advancing on the masked teen. "And those were the tightest lasers I could manage, but you passed with flying colors. Props to that."

"Thanks," said Red X. "Listen, I like being praised and all, but this whole thing is kinda starting to creep me out, so I'd just like to go now…" Red X tried to move, but found that he was being held in place by a strong cable of some sort. He looked down at it and saw that it was comprised of 0s and 1s, just as the Mirror Jewel had been. This was just getting weirder and weirder. However, all the while Red X was wondering, _Where have I seen this before?_

"Oh, you don't want to leave yet," said the green and black-clad girl. "Not until you hear what I have to say."

After struggling to get free, Red X gave up and said, "Fine, just tell me and get it over with."

The girl smirked, advancing ever closer to Red X. "I have what you were looking for right here," she said, taking the Mirror Jewel out of her pocket. "It's all yours…on one condition."

Red X sighed. "And what would that be?"

"Meet me outside Chang's old observatory, 8 o'clock tonight," she said. "I have someone who wants to meet you. Don't be late, now." She winked at Red X. With those words, she disappeared in a flash of 0s and 1s.

Red X was suddenly unbound, and found himself standing outside the museum he had planned to rob. _How the hell did I get back out here?_ he asked himself. Then he heard footsteps. The guard was coming for shift change. _No time to think about that; I'd better split._ Red X darted away from the museum door, still a bit confused about the girl's words. What confused him even more, though, was the familiarity of her tricks. _That technology…I've seen it before. But where?_

**Marble City, an hour later…**

Argent looked at the finished tower: the Titan Tower South. It didn't look too shabby; it looked nearly as majestic as the original Titan Tower in Jump City. There was something off about it, though…something wrong…

Argent snapped her fingers. "We forgot to reinforce the foundations. If there's ever an earthquake here, how will this tower stay up?"

Suddenly, the ground began rumbling. _Speak of the devil,_ thought Argent. She braced herself, looking over to the tower to see if it was all right. What she saw instead surprised her.

There was a layer of diamond coming up under the tower, wrapping itself around the bottom. As soon as the earthquake stopped, Argent heard a familiar voice: "I think that should reinforce 'em pretty well."

Argent spun around to see the figure of Terrane Markov, the fifth member of their team. He had a backpack over his shoulder and a smile on his face. He was wearing the same outfit he had been wearing earlier that day: A light spring jacket and baggy jeans. Argent was speechless for a second, but soon got her voice back. "Figure you'd turn up fashionably late?" she asked, advancing on Terrane.

Terrane landed in front of her. "Yeah, I would've come sooner, but I had to go sightseeing first. There are some pretty valuable gemstones out in those mountains, y'know. You guys should check 'em out."

Argent ignored this. "I said five o'clock, Terrane. It's nearly seven."

Terrane's grin disappeared. "Okay, sorry. I didn't think you'd be so rigid on arrival times."

"Didn't you think we'd be worried?" These words surprised even Argent. Her face turned a little red about two seconds after she said this.

Terrane was a bit surprised too, but then smirked affably and said, "Aw, Argent, how nice of you to worry about me."

Argent smirked a little too, the redness dispersing from her face. "Well, all I meant was that we needed help building the tower. Jericho nearly knocked over the tower trying to level some hills you could've leveled with a flick of your wrist."

Jericho shrugged and grinned foolishly.

Terrane laughed a little and said, "Okay, I guess it was kind of stupid of me to come so late. Here, I'll make it up to you. Let's go inside, though. It's starting to get chilly."

Argent nodded agreement. Her skin was starting to feel a bit cold. There were goose bumps all over her arms and legs. She walked inside, the rest of the team following her.

Terrane looked around in amazement at the tower. "It's…big," he commented. "And pretty nice. You guys did a good job." He turned to them. "But enough talk. I've got something to give all of you." He took a box out of his backpack. The box itself was pretty impressive: it was composed of all sorts of different minerals, such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst. The assorted colors made it look like an artist's masterpiece. Red Star whistled at the sight of it. Terrane shook his finger. "No, no, this isn't it." Terrane opened the box and a pair of sparkling diamond gloves floated out. The left glove had a piece of garnet on the backside, while the right one had a piece of emerald. "For you, Red Star, ol' buddy. These gloves are made of pure diamond. They'll let you pack a little more punch, and they're comfortable, too. I made sure to make the diamond flexible."

Red Star tried them on. "They are comfortable, indeed," said Red Star, flexing his fingers and smiling. "How did you make the diamond so adaptable?"

Terrane smiled and wiggled around the fingers on his right hand. "Magic touch," is all he said. Another item floated out of the box: it was a diamond sword with a sapphire-and-quartz hilt. "For you, Bushido. This sword is made of diamond and fifty times as sharp as a regular one. It can slash through stone like a hot knife through butter. It's lightweight and easy to handle, too."

Bushido gave the sword a swing and smiled, satisfied with the performance of the blade. "Very nice workmanship," he said, holstering it with his other sword.

"Thanks," said Terrane. "Moving on…for you, Jericho, I knew I had to make something special. So I made this." A hunk of diamond came floating out of the box. It melted, and then reformed into a diamond replica of Jericho. "I've given this statue eyes, so that you can take control of it. But that's not all it can do." He motioned toward the statue. "Go ahead, give it a spin."

Jericho nodded and looked into the eyes of the statue. He became one with the statue. Once inside, he looked at his hands. "I don't feel any different," he said. Then his eyes widened. "Oh my god! I spoke!" He turned his head to Terrane. "I can talk!"

Terrane smiled, nodding. "You sure can," he said, walking over to the Jericho statue. "I made some artificial vocal cords inside the statue."

Jericho smiled. He tried to walk around, but found that he couldn't. He frowned. "I can talk, but I can't move. It feels like I have lead weights on my feet."

Terrane scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that…I couldn't quite make the statue light enough for you to be able to move. So you'll be able to talk, but not to walk." As Jericho stepped back outside the statue, it turned into a bracelet with an amethyst set in it. "It's portable, though, so you can use it anywhere."

Jericho picked up the bracelet, smiled, and gave Terrane a thumbs up.

Terrane turned over to Argent. "And finally, a gift for the lady." He set the box down on a table and bowed.

Out of the box floated a necklace. There were five different gemstones on it. Argent's eyes sparkled along with the gleaming stones on it. She picked it out of the air and gazed at it. "Terrane, it's…utterly astonishing."

"I thought you'd like it," said Terrane, smiling. "Check it out: the chain is pure diamond. Then, there are five different stones on it. The first one on the left is amethyst. The one next to it is a mix of sapphire and quartz. To the far right, there's a mix of garnet and emerald. Next to that one is topaz, and in the center, of course, is a mix of ruby and opal."

Argent looked at it for a minute, then over to her teammates. She eyed each of them until her eyes landed on Terrane. "The gemstones…each of them represents one of us, right?

Terrane's smile widened. "Ever the intuitive one, ey?" he said. "Yes, each of the stones does represent one of us. The one in the middle is obviously you."

Argent nodded. "Well, this is quite a generous gift."

"Ah, ah, ah," said Terrane, shaking his finger once again. "I wasn't done explaining." Argent raised an eyebrow. "What, you thought your gift wouldn't do something cool, too?"

Argent shrugged. "I thought its only job was to look pretty."

Terrane chuckled. "And it does that quite well. Nevertheless, it does have another use. Try using your power on the garnet-and-emerald."

Argent put her hand out to the necklace and enclosed the garnet-and-emerald with red plasma energy. Suddenly, she felt immensely strong, as though she could lift a ten-ton boulder, even without her powers. "What's…what's happening?" she asked, mildly frightened.

Terrane held up his hands. "Calm down. You've just linked yourself to Red Star's power." Indeed, the gemstones on Red Star's gloves were glowing.

Argent understood. "That's amazing…" she said in awe. She put on the necklace and gazed over to the tall blonde teen, stopping the flow of her power into the necklace. "Terrane, I've only seen a little of your work, but I'm sure you've really outdone yourself this time."

Terrane shook his head. "Hey, just think of this as a thank-you gift," he said. Then, after a pause, he looked at his feet and added, "And an apology."

As Terrane looked at his feet, Argent walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she said. "You have nothing to be sorry about. We all know that Slade lied to you." She looked into his eyes and repeated, "You have nothing to be sorry about."

Terrane looked back into Argent's eyes. His smile came back a little as he said, "Thanks. You don't know how relieved that makes me feel."

Argent smiled back and patted his shoulder. "No problem," she said. She looked over at the clock Bushido had put on the wall overlooking the door into the main hallway. "Seven fifteen," she said. "What say we go and check out the town we're supposed to protect?"

"Excellent idea!" said Red Star

"Sure, sounds good," replied Bushido.

"Let's go," agreed Terrane.

Jericho simply smiled and nodded.

"Well, then, let's get going!" said Argent. She flew toward the door, her team following her.

**Chang's Observatory Hill, 7:30 PM**

Red X walked up the hill, soaking in the view of the night-lit city. The way he figured it, this rendezvous would be quick and easy. He'd find the girl, meet whomever she wanted him to meet, and get his prize. Just in case she had set a trap, however, Red X had come thirty minutes early to inspect the field. "Always know your surroundings," his father had said. "You never know when they'll turn into a battleground."

Red X shook his head. _His sayings are about the only thing he was good for,_ thought Red X cynically. His old man hadn't been what one would call a family man. He had been away a lot, and was quite melancholy whenever he did show. Red X didn't know much more than that about his father. He was a better friend with his sister anyway…

Red X stopped thinking about his family when he saw the green-and-black girl leaning against Professor Chang's old observatory, the ground around which was lit by a single streetlight. As far as Red X knew, that old coot Chang was currently frozen in some high-tech base in France, or so he'd heard. He still remembered his fight against the old man. His first fight side-by-side with Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans. They actually made a pretty good team. But they could probably never work together, being on different sides of the law and all.

As Red X came closer to the girl, he noticed she was playing a handheld game. Her goggles were on and her tongue was out to the side. She was obviously very engrossed in the game. She didn't even notice Red X approach her. Red X shrugged, taking this as an opportunity to look for traps. He quickly scanned the building with one of his X-shaped devices and saw that there weren't any threats inside or outside. Seeing nothing else to do, he walked up to the girl and cleared his throat noisily.

The girl looked up from her game. "What is…" When she saw Red X, her eyes widened. She quickly hid the game behind her back. "Oh, it's you!" she said a bit nervously.

Red X chuckled. "Didn't expect me to come this early, ey?"

The girl shrugged, taking off her goggles with one hand and dropping them back over her neck. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to come at all. My…er…_friend_ said you might not."

Red X raised an eyebrow. "Did he, now?" Then he looked behind the girl's back. "Uh…are you still playing that?"

In fact, the girl's fingers were still flying across the buttons on the game, as if programmed to do the right thing without even looking. And, by the sounds of the game, they were doing pretty well. "Oh," she said, looking down at the hands behind her back. "It would seem I am."

"Uh…right…" said Red X. "Look, can I just meet this guy and have my jewel back?"

The girl looked around for a second, all while pressing the buttons on the game. She cleared her throat, turned off the game, and put it into her pocket. She stood silent for another few seconds. Then she said, "You…uh…came a little earlier than I expected. The person I want you to meet…well, he kind of isn't here yet."

Red X groaned and rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?" he asked. The girl nodded meekly. "Well, this is just great. So what now?"

The girl shrugged. "I dunno. I guess we've gotta pass time somehow. Um…so, what's your name?"

Red X looked over to the girl. "Red X."

The girl shook her head. "No, I mean your real name."

"You don't need to know that."

The girl scrunched her face. "Fine. Be that way." She looked at her nails and resumed leaning against the observatory. "In case you're wondering, my name's Gigabyte. Nice to meet you…I guess."

Red X said nothing. He simply sat down and looked out to the moonlit sea surrounding Jump City. After about a minute of silence between the two, Red X said, "Gigabyte."

The girl looked up. "Hmm?" she said.

"I noticed that you used some advanced kind of tech back in the museum." Red X looked back at the black-haired teen. "Would you happen to know the name of the computer system you used?"

Gigabyte looked up to the sky. "It's a system of my own. I haven't named it yet."

Red X laughed once and looked away. "Liar."

"Hey!" she said, walking over to the masked teen. She put her hands on her hips and leaned over to look at him. "I'm telling the truth!"

"No you're not," replied Red X. "That's not yours. You got it from someone. Probably this 'friend' of yours, am I right?"

Gigabyte sighed and sat down by Red X. "Yeah, you're right. But I'm probably gonna patent it as my own, once I work out all the kinks. Nobody's gonna object. That 'friend' of mine said that the owner's dead."

Red X sighed. "He sure is."

Before Gigabyte could question what Red X said, a voice sounded from behind them. "Sorry you two had to wait," it said. It was a male voice, though Red X couldn't see whom it belonged to.

Gigabyte got up to meet the man. "About time," she said, heading toward the darkness. "It was pretty awkward with just him and me here." She turned back to Red X. "This is the person I'd like you to meet. Or rather, he'd like to meet you. Red X, meet Slade."

The muscular figure of Slade stepped out into the light. "Ah, Red X. I've heard oh so much about you. But where are my manners?" Slade took a bow. "Slade, at your service."

--------

And there's Chapter One. Yeah, the addition of Slade was probably pretty predictable, but it's necessary for the story. Anyway, gimme some reviews and tell me what you think! Chapter Two is on the way!


	2. The First Domino

Here's chapter two of Unreal. Sorry for taking so long, I've been really bogged down with homework. The next chapter may take a while, but I will get it done! This series still has a while to go, after all. R&R, and enjoy!

I don't own any characters except the ones I make up.

**Unreal: Part Two**

Red X stared down the muscular man in front of him. "So this is your friend," he said without looking at Gigabyte.

Gigabyte nodded. "He sure is. But he prefers to be called my 'master.'"

Red X chuckled, though it was without feeling. "Of course," he said. "That _is_ what you do, isn't it?"

"It is indeed," said Slade. "I have taken young Gigabyte in as my new apprentice."

Red X turned away. "If you're thinking of asking me to do the same, don't bother. I work alone. So just give me my jewel and I'll be on my way."

Slade laughed quietly. "Don't be so quick to act, Red X," he said. "You'll get your jewel. But first, I have some information you may want to hear about."

Red X heaved another sigh and shook his head. "Make it quick. I've got places to be."

Slade snapped his fingers. "Gigabyte, the Mirror Jewel, please." Gigabyte handed Slade the jewel. "You can have your jewel, X, but there's more where it came from if you do a little job for me."

"No deal."

Slade shook his finger. "Slow down, I'm not done yet. If you take the job, I won't be your master and you won't be my apprentice. Think of yourself more as a gun-for-hire. This is only a one-time job, nothing more."

Red X was silent for a moment. Then he turned around and walked back toward Slade and Gigabyte. "Okay, you have my attention. Talk."

"That's more like it," said Slade. "The job I have for you is a bit on the dangerous side, but the prize is well worth it."

"Skip the dangerous part," said Red X, "and tell me about the prize first."

Slade laughed a bit more. "Anxious for your reward, are you? Very well." He took a rolled-up piece of paper from his pocket and unrolled it. On it were several pictures of valuable jewels and machinery. "I currently have in my possession every item on this poster. Each one is yours for the taking if you accept the task I have for you."

Red X's mouth almost watered just looking at the poster. _Damn my partiality to shiny things,_ he thought as he stared wide-eyed at the poster. _That tech looks pretty sweet, too. The things I could do with all that…_

"Would you like to hear about your mission?" asked Slade.

Red X awoke from his trance. "Oh, yeah, sure," he said, still a bit dazed from looking at the valuables on the poster.

"Wonderful," said Slade. "I will need you to permeate a facility holding an article of my interest." Slade put away the poster and took out another rolled-up piece of paper. This one was blue, which automatically made Red X assume it was a blueprint of some sort. He saw that he was right when Slade unrolled it. Slade pointed to the blueprints, which appeared to be those of some high-security facility. "These are the plans for the building I want you to infiltrate." He took out a watch-like device with an orange S on it. "They've been downloaded onto this device, so you should have no trouble finding your way around. Just in case you do, though, Gigabyte will be in contact with you throughout your mission." Gigabyte winked at Red X. "So what do you say?" asked Slade, putting away the blueprints.

Red X thought about it. "What do I have to steal?" he asked.

"That is of no importance to you," said Slade. "Gigabyte will lead you to it. You'll know it when you see it."

Red X thought about inquiring further, but decided against it and shrugged. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it. When do we start?"

"Right away, if you'd like," said Slade. He held out his hand. "So we have a deal?"

Red X hesitated a moment, then took his hand and shook it. "We sure do."

Slade smiled under his mask. "Excellent. You won't regret it." He threw the watch-like device to Red X. "The facility is well-guarded, so keep your wits about you. Gigabyte will provide the transportation there."

Gigabyte smirked and took a remote off her belt. She hit a button on it, causing what looked like a hovering black and green car to appear out of thin air. "Hop in," she said.

"Just a sec," said Red X. He looked over to Slade. "I believe you still owe me something."

Slade laughed. "I was hoping you'd forget. Fine, you may have your jewel." He tossed Red X the Mirror Jewel. "Good luck."

Red X nodded, pocketing the jewel. He followed Gigabyte inside the hovering car.

Red X gazed at the interior of the vehicle. "You built all this?" he asked.

Gigabyte nodded. "Yep. No joke this time. Everything you see around you was manufactured by yours truly." She sat down in the driver's seat and hit a few buttons. Red X sat in the passenger's seat, still checking out the technology around him. Gigabyte hit a few more buttons, then put on her goggles and put her hands on the steering wheel. "Fasten your seatbelt," she said. "Next stop, Marble City!"

**Back in Marble City…**

Terrane whistled as he took in the sights. This Marble City was like Jump City with a back-to-nature edge. There were tall, metropolitan-like buildings everywhere like in Jump City, but that was just about where the similarities ended. There were noticeably more trees than in Jump City. Also, the air had less pollution. There were even one or two mountains near the city. They could be seen easily from the city streets. "This is my kinda town," said Terrane, to no one in particular.

Argent scanned the city as well. After a few seconds, she pointed over to the mountains. "You said those had valuable rocks in them, right?"

Terrane nodded. "That's right."

Argent thought for a second, then voiced her thoughts. "This place looks like its crime rate won't be as high as Jump City's. But that's not counting the mountains. If there's one thing I've learned during my time as a Titan…no, during my time as a hero altogether, it's that criminals love nothing more than multifaceted gems and jewels. We may have quite a few cases up in those mountains."

Terrane smirked. "I've got no problem with that."

Argent smirked back. "I didn't think you would." She turned to the rest of her team. "But as for you three: Red Star, you and I can fly, so the mountains shouldn't be much trouble for us. But Jericho and Bushido can't. We're going to have to figure something out in case we ever _do_ fight on the mountains."

Terrane snapped his fingers. "They could ride up with me. My platform could take two more, no problem."

"Good idea," said Argent. She thought a bit more, holding her chin in her right hand and holding her right elbow with her free hand. "Okay, we'll start combat practice tomorrow. During that, we'll figure out how to fight on a mountain."

Everyone was about to agree when an explosion was heard. Judging by the loudness of the explosion, it was only a few blocks away. Terrane cracked his knuckles. "Looks like we'll be having combat practice a little early."

Argent nodded agreement, and then shouted, "Titans South, GO!" She kicked off the ground and began to fly. Red Star and Terrane soon followed her. Bushido and Jericho followed them from the streets.

The Titans South had arrived at the site of the crime in less than a minute. There, they saw some sort of mechanical monster attacking the Marble City bank. It was colored black, with large, threatening horns coming from its head and cold red eyes that glowed menacingly. Its legs were slender and jagged, with clawed feet at the bottom. Its stocky frame was only made more intimidating by large red claws with nails longer than machetes. It was currently sauntering toward the bank. Argent pointed at it and shouted to the others, "Don't let it move another inch!"

Bushido headed off the assault from the ground. Brandishing both his old sword and his new diamond one, he ran at the coal colored monstrosity. He struck at it first with his regular sword. The attack bounced right off the robot's metal plating. It didn't look as though the robot noticed, so Bushido struck again, this time with the diamond sword. This attack made a small scratch in the robot's armor. It wasn't that big, but it was certainly enough to get the robot's attention.

The night-colored android turned around, its red eyes focused on Bushido. Bushido stared back at it, his gaze unwavering. He was ready to fight this thing, whatever it was. Finally, the robot slashed forward with its humungous claws. Bushido just barely got out of the way in time, rolling to the left. He sprang back up, uppercutting with his diamond sword in the process. This gave the robot another small scratch. In response, the robot whacked Bushido's diamond sword out of his hand. Before Bushido could run over to retrieve it, the robot grabbed him by the neck with one of his claws.

" the robot said in a metallic voice. _**"No mortal can defeat the almighty Appendage!"**_

Bushido struggled to free himself, but found that he couldn't escape. Jericho came up behind him and readied his sonic-wave guitar. He played a chord, sending an deafening wave of sound toward Bushido and Appendage.

Appendage noticed the new threat right away. He threw Bushido aside, knocking him unconscious. _**"Reconfigure!"**_ Appendage shouted. Suddenly, his body parts reassembled. When his transformation was finished, he looked quite different. He had the same black look, but he was a crouched-over figure now. Instead of two sharp claws, he had an orange ring slung around his body like a sash. There were several orange hands sticking out of the ring. His head was now shaped like a basketball, with only one circular red eye in the center. He now had four humanlike legs that went out to each side, making them work like a spider's legs.

As the sonic wave came at him, the orange ring around Appendage's shoulder floated in front of him and began to spin. When the sonic wave hit the spinning ring, it was sent back at Jericho. Jericho had no time to move out of the way and was knocked back into a building.

Red Star came at Appendage next, firing red Xenothium bolts at him. Once again, Appendage shouted, _**"Reconfigure!"**_ This time, he became a gargantuan four-legged creature with blue wings. His claws and teeth were razor-sharp, and every inch of his body was covered in coal-colored armor plating. He had the same glowing red eyes as before. Red Star's Xenothium bolts ricocheted harmlessly off the creature's armor. It batted Red Star away like a fly, sending him crashing into a statue of a cloaked man on a horse.

Terrane flew at the large beast and kicked his giant stone platform at him, turning it into diamond in the process. Appendage once again growled, _**"Reconfigure!"**_ He transformed this time into a human-like form. His skin was still pitch black, his eyes were still red, and he had no mouth or nose, but otherwise, he looked exactly like a human would. A large green and black spear was strapped to his back. He easily sidestepped the diamond platform and lunged at Terrane, who was now on the ground. Terrane brought up his signature stone lance from the ground and parried Appendage's spear, readying a strike of his own. Before he could, however, Appendage kicked his feet out from under him with surprising speed. Terrane fell backwards, his lance flying out of his hand. Appendage caught the lance, brandishing it in his left hand. He began spinning, the two weapons forming a dangerous twister. When Terrane got up, he was pummeled by the twister, sending him flying back into a streetlight.

Argent flew up to the twister, sending a barrier of red energy to contain the destruction it was causing. Appendage stopped spinning and, much to Argent's surprise, did not attempt to break out. Instead, he once again shouted, _**"Reconfigure!"**_ This time, his shape didn't change much. He still had a humanlike body, except now he was wearing a flowing purple and black robe and a matching headdress. His spear had been replaced by a large purple and black staff.

The staff began to glow, and soon, Argent could feel the wave of plasma energy moving against her. She fought the force, but soon, the red plasma that had once been her weapon was caging her up. With a flick of his wrist, Appendage filled the plasma cage with electricity. Argent screamed out in pain, then fell to the ground, unconscious.

Appendage looked over the five passed out teens. He continued to saunter toward the bank. However, he stopped. It was as if he received a signal to stop. He turned street and shouted, _**"Reconfigure!"**_ He turned into the flying beast again and took off toward the mountains.

Terrane woke up in time to see this. He got up slowly, looking toward the sky. Appendage was getting away and the Titans South could do nothing about it. Unless Terrane followed him. Which is just what he did.

Terrane flew after Appendage on a stone platform, deciding he would help his teammates later. He followed the large mechanical beast through the air, determined not to lose sight of it. He kept out of its sight, though, hoping to sneak up on it. As Terrane flew through the sky, he started to recognize his surroundings. Appendage was heading toward the mountains.

Terrane kept following Appendage from a distance until he landed on a stone ledge on one of the surrounding mountains. He then walked inside a cave on the ledge. Terrane kicked off his platform, sending it crashing into the ocean around Marble City. He landed on the same stone ledge softly, kneeling down on one knee and both hands. Brushing off his shoulder, Terrane followed Appendage inside the cave.

When he walked inside, Terrane expected the cave to be dark. Surprisingly, the cave was fairly well-lit. The light came from lanterns hung on the walls, which led deeper into the corridor-like cave. Terrane only caught a glimpse of one of the lanterns, but something about it seemed familiar. There was no time to think of that now, however, as Appendage still needed to be found. Terrane continued his trek into the cave. He walked further in, keeping alert for any traces of Appendage. He was not prepared, however, for what he found deep in the cave.

Terrane eventually came to a large room in the cave. This room was even brighter than the others. This was because it was lit by electric lights. These looked currently installed, too, unlike the lanterns. But the lights weren't Terrane's biggest concern. Terrane's biggest concern was standing in the center of the room. It wasn't Appendage, though. It was a sight that seemed so familiar, and yet so different.

In the center of the room was a statue of a girl. Terrane had a sense of déjà vu for a second. He walked forward to examine the statue. The girl was about Terra's age, give or take, and she wore quite the same expression Terra did when she was in statue form: strained, and a little scared. But that's where the similarities ended. Terra's statue was made of a traditional gray stone. This statue was made of a pure white stone. The girl was also hunched down a little, with a strange white jewel clutched in her hands. Terrane touched the statue's head and immediately jolted his hand back.

The statue's head felt warm. How was that possible? Terra's skin was the same way when she was a statue. Was this girl just like Terra; alive, but statue-ized? And who was she, exactly?

It looked like it would be a while before he found out, because just then, Terrane heard a robotic voice behind him: _**"So you have followed me."**_ He knew who it was even before he turned around. Standing in front of him was Appendage, in his human-like form. He drew his spear and pointed it at Terrane. _**"Just as master said."**_

"Master?" Terrane thought aloud.

Appendage let out a hollow metallic laugh. _**"Haven't figured it out yet? Why don't you take a look behind you?"**_

Terrane hesitated, as he didn't want to take his eyes off the dangerous machine. Appendage, seeing his concern, holstered his spear again. Terrane took a quick glance back. What he saw made him hold his glance for another second.

The floor under the statue of the girl was painted brownish-orange, with a huge black "S" snaking its way across the circle. Terrane recognized this emblem all too well. That must have been what he recognized about the lanterns, too. This cavern belonged to the one and only Slade.

Terrane snapped his view back toward Appendage. "You're working for Slade," he said, getting ready to use his powers.

Another metallic laugh. _**"Correct,"**_ said the mechanical monstrosity. _**"And you have just stumbled upon the first domino of his latest plan."**_

"What?" said Terrane. "What do you mean, 'first domino'?"

Appendage shook his head. _**"That, you don't get to know yet. You've seen all you need to."**_

Terrane's eyes began to glow. "I'll be the judge of that, you glorified bucket of bolts. Now start talking or I'll flatten you with a boulder."

" replied Appendage slyly.

Terrane froze. His eyes stopped glowing. He looked back at the girl. Whoever she was, she was part of Slade's plan, so she must've been important.

Terrane didn't have any more time to think about it, though. He felt something hard hit the back of his head. He fell to the ground, losing his consciousness. Just as he was about to fall into comatose sleep, he saw Appendage standing over him. _**"Sleep tight, foolish human,"**_ said the menacing robot. Terrane remembered nothing after that.

**Meanwhile, back in Marble City…**

Red X stepped off Gigabyte's ship feeling a little dizzy. He wasn't used to traveling in such a high-speed vehicle. He shook his head a couple of times to get back into focus. Once he could tell up from down again, he looked at the building he was about to infiltrate from the cliff ledge where he was standing. It looked like the other buildings in Marble City: they were made of a crystal-looking material. But this one was different. Just seeing it from this distance made Red X feel an ominous aura emanating from it.

_Well,_ he thought, _whatever's inside there is obviously pretty big. But why should I care? I'm getting paid._ He looked back to Gigabyte, who was tweaking the control settings of a watch-like device similar to the one Red X was wearing at the moment. "Anything I should know before I go in?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Gigabyte, not looking up from her work. "The blueprint on your communicator will show you all the hazards to your mission: security cameras, guards, attack dogs, land mines…"

"Land mines?" said Red X, mildly intrigued.

"Hey, what'd you expect?" said Gigabyte, finishing up the work she was doing on her communicator and looking to Red X. "This is the most secure place in Marble City. They take every precaution they can to keep whatever's inside safe."

Red X nodded. "So what kind of explosion do these mines make?"

"They don't explode, exactly," Gigabyte replied, bringing up a hologram on her communicator. "They send a laser straight up to a hidden connector on the ceiling that decimates whoever touched the mine." She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Scared you're gonna get hurt?"

Red X laughed. "Nah, I just don't wanna leave any marks. Slade doesn't want any investigations into this, does he?"

Gigabyte chuckled. "I don't think he'd mind. The trail would lead back to you anyway. And if you ratted on him, it wouldn't matter, since everyone thinks Slade is dead."

Red X nodded. "Right, the idiots back in the criminal underground refuse to believe there's such a thing as 'resurrection'. Interrogating them wouldn't get the cops anywhere."

Gigabyte shrugged. "I kinda find it hard to believe myself. I mean, how could someone die and then just come back to life?"

"Slade did it, didn't he?" said Red X.

"I suppose," replied Gigabyte, "but the whole thing still seems illogical."

"The man's done many illogical things before," Red X said, looking over at the building. "So just what am I supposed to jack from this place?"

Gigabyte shook her finger. "Ah, ah, ah, you don't get to know that yet."

Red X snickered. "I thought you'd forget about that."

Gigabyte smirked, then said, "Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. It looks different from everything else that's being stored in the facility."

"What else is stored in the facility?" asked Red X, his curiosity piqued.

"Oh, you know," said Gigabyte, "money, paintings, artifacts, diamonds. Rich people stuff." Red X perked up. "Nuh-uh, don't get any ideas. Keep your mitts off everything else or the deal's off, capiche?"

Red X sighed in disappointment. "Ah, well. That payoff I'm getting from Slade'll have to do, 'ey?"

Gigabyte shrugged. "Whatever. Alright, we've wasted enough time. Let's get started."

Red X nodded. "Right. Okay, here I go." He jumped down off the cliff and landed softly on the street in front of the factory. There were two cameras near the entrance, but he didn't need to worry about them, since his suit was currently in stealth mode. He snuck inside on his tiptoes, activating his newly-installed scent-trapper to eliminate the threat of attack dogs. As long as he kept an eye on where all the mines and other defensive mechanisms were, the only thing Red X needed to worry about was being seen or heard. Of course, that wouldn't be too hard to avoid.

Red X darted down a hallway, ignoring the cameras dotting the walls. At the end of the hallway, he checked his communicator to see where he should go next. It pointed him to the left. After that, a quick right and another left would lead him to a stairwell. Up that stairwell would be where the item of Slade's interest was. _This shouldn't be too hard at all, _he thought, continuing his journey toward his goal.

Along the way, Red X caught sight of several stunning treasures. It was just as Gigabyte had said: rich people stuff. He wanted to take some of it, just a coin or a diamond or something, but he decided against it. The payoff from Slade would be much sweeter.

Red X turned the last corner and found himself staring at the staircase leading to the object of Slade's desire. This was it. He would soon find out just what Slade was sending him after. He climbed the staircase, careful not to make any noise. As he approached the top, he felt a warm glow surround him. It was strange, yet strangely familiar. He reached the top of the staircase and laid eyes on a dazzling sight.

On a pedestal in front of him was a large blue crystal emanating a warm light throughout the room. It was utterly breathtaking. _I guess this is what I'm supposed to take,_ thought Red X, approaching the beautiful crystal with caution. He was just about to take out his scanner to check for traps when something caught his eye. It was just barely visible, in the darkest corner of the room, but it was there alright. It was pure white, with a blue tint due to the light. Red X walked over to the object, figuring he had plenty of time to jack the crystal. But as he approached the object, the crystal, the reward, the whole damn mission became the least of his worries.

He approached a pure-white statue of an adolescent girl and touched its cold forehead. "Jessica?" he whispered, barely audible.

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I'll cap it off here. Read, review, and await the next chapter, no matter when it comes!


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